Monday, July 30, 2012

Garden onslaught


The cukes have arrived!  I am so tempted to pick one of these now, rather than waiting til it gets bigger.  Tomorrow I might succumb.


The tops of the yellow onions have fallen over, but the leeks are still tall and green.  And though my pepper plants look happy and healthy, they haven't started growing any actual fruit yet.  Grrr.


What a horrible year for broccoli.  Just two small heads in June from twenty plants, formed just before the heat wave hit.  Since then -- zilch.  And no heads are forming on my cauliflower plants either.  I think they are just trying to stay alive.  Maybe if I keep them watered, they will trudge through the summer and start forming heads this fall.  I'm not holding my breath, though.


The zucchini is going gang-busters.  How is it that one day I can look through the plants and see no fruit ready for picking, but the next day I will find one two feet long and six inches thick?  My sparsely-germinated carrots are looking good.  Apparently they like the heat.  


Green beans and tomatoes.  Nothing ready to pick from either of them.   Lots of small green 'maters, though.


The vast sprawling expanse of pumpkins and melons.  They are growing over everything in their path, including the four strangled basil plants in their midst.


My row of flowers and my patch of sunflowers.  Marigolds are blooming non-stop and I've got my first aster blooming.  Nothing from the carnations yet.  They were more of an experiment, anyway, so I'm not too concerned.  The melon vines are encroaching on the asters at the bottom of the photo.


Cabbages are ready!


My purple podded wax beans are almost ready for picking.  The purple flowers and stems against the bright green leaves are very lovely.


My potato patch, looking much the worse for wear.  The unforgiving heat has beaten down these vines, with brown crinkly leaf edges and floppy stems.  But I am fairly confident that there is no blight to be seen.  I can see new green growth amongst the older, dryer leaves.


And when I dug under one of the plants, I managed a decent haul of medium-sized potatoes.  Oh, how I love digging potatoes.  It is one of my favorite gardening chores.  As long as the tubers are not half-eaten by mice or speared by pitchfork tines.

6 comments:

Carolyn said...

What a wonderful harvest and soon-to-be harvest :) I keep saying we'll try potatoes, but haven't yet. Maybe next year.

Erin said...

Everything looks great!

The Polar Bear said...

wow- your garden looks awesome! mine is having a horrible infestation of squash beetles. oh well. i am hoping for a bumping fall garden. great update.

Mama Pea said...

I'd say most everything looks pretty darn good. You must be getting enough rain. We got our first slicing cuc last night. Boy, it tasted good! My pepper plants look about like yours and sure are slow about setting fruit. Not even more than one or two blossoms on the "hot" peppers (can't remember the variety) or the green/red sweet peppers. Fingers crossed they come through. Thanks for the garden tour!

What's the latest on the job situation? Been thinking about you.

LuckyRobin said...

I found your blog a few days ago and have really enjoyed reading through the archives while I've been sick. It's hard to find blogs that feel real that are written in a lively and interesting manner and yours definitely hit all those categories for me.

Jo said...

Thanks, all! Yes, the garden is doing surprisingly well, considering the heat and drought. I've been watering about every other day. I'm very grateful for my clay soils this summer, which hold every drop of moisture I give it.

No news on the job situation, had an interview last week but don't think I got it. So many people are moving around the system right now, competition is fierce!